editing hd video on imovie HD not working

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editing hd video on imovie HD not working

I am running tiger, have imovie 6.0.3, and some big HD video files on my external hard drive that won't import to imovie. It says "Error during import:Unknown Error" I'm not sure the exact type of HD video file as they are showing as quicktime files. When I click on them to play in quicktime, i just get audio. I tried transferring one to my internal hard drive, same thing. HELP!

macbook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Aug 15, 2009 11:20 AM

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Answer 1

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Karsten Schlüter

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34,086 points

Aug 15, 2009 9:09 PM in response to mrlucas

lmyers wrote:
.. some big HD video files on my external hard drive that won't import to imovie. It says "Error during import:Unknown Error" I'm not sure the exact type of HD video file as they are showing as quicktime files. When I click on them to play in quicktime, i just get audio. ..

iMovie (any version) is meant for camcorder-imports, it doesn't support all 'formats'.
audio-only indicates, these are not 'Mac conform' files... by the way: what is the source of these 'HD videos'?

in Finder, single click on one of those file, hit both keys 'Apple-i' and
*tell us, what you read under 'size, codecs' ..*

perhaps, a plugin and some conversion software can solve this problem.. 🙂

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Answer 2

mrlucas Author

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Aug 17, 2009 9:14 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

The source is from a fancy HD camera that was used to record a live performance, I am not sure of the make/model. Under Codecs its says the following:

DVCPRO HD(720p60), Integer (Big Endian), Timecode.

A friend got it working on Leopard with FinalCut, I don't have the $$ or time to upgrade my entire operating system, and invest in software. I would love to find a solution through, like you suggest, plug ins or conversion software. Thanks!

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Answer 3

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Aug 17, 2009 9:57 AM in response to mrlucas

You can only work with those files if you have Final Cut Pro 4.5 or higher installed.

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Answer 4

Aug 17, 2009 11:32 AM in response to mrlucas

lmyers wrote:
.. A friend got it working on Leopard with FinalCut, ..

so, ask your friend to export the material using AppleIntermediateCodec, which is iM603 internal 'HiDef'-codec..

as Nick told you: DVCPro is a very pro codec .. 🙂

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Answer 5

mrlucas Author

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Aug 17, 2009 1:43 PM in response to Nick Holmes

will final cut pro 5 work on my intel mac?

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Answer 6

Nick Holmes

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Aug 18, 2009 6:53 AM in response to mrlucas

For an Intel Mac you need FCS 1.1 which includes Final Cut Pro 5.1.x.
The prior release, FCS 1 with FCP 5.0.x is not compatible.

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Answer 7

mrlucas Author

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Aug 18, 2009 10:34 PM in response to Nick Holmes

will final cut pro 7 work? or is it too leopard dependent. i'm trying to avoid doing a whole system upgrade just to edit a bit of video!

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Answer 8

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Aug 19, 2009 8:42 AM in response to mrlucas

Requirements to install all Final Cut Studio applications

Mac computer with an Intel processor
1GB of RAM (2GB of RAM recommended when working with compressed HD and uncompressed SD sources; 4GB of RAM recommended when working with uncompressed HD sources)
ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor (integrated Intel graphics processors not supported)
128MB of VRAM
Display with 1280-by-800 resolution or higher
*Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later*
QuickTime 7.6 or later
DVD drive for installation
4GB of disk space required to install all applications (Final Cut Pro, Color, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, Cinema Tools, Compressor, and Apple Qmaster)
46GB of disk space required for optional content
9GB for DVD Studio Pro content
7GB for Motion templates
22GB for audio content
8GB for LiveFonts

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Answer 9

mrlucas Author

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Aug 19, 2009 4:14 PM in response to Nick Holmes

This is great, Really Appreciate all the info. I know if I knew where to look I could probably find it myself but its still a steep learning curve with all the Versions etc.

After doing some sleuthing, it looks like I simply don't have the space on my laptop to try running finalcutpro AND be able to edit this thing together. Its about 25 gigs of video all together and FCP is another 20 and I have only 80 available. I have a 300 gig external hard drive thats half full, but, from what i have read, you can't run FCP on an external hard drive. I had thought of starting up from the external hard drive but I don't know of this is possible. Unless there is some way around this I will try doing what was suggested earlier and get a friend to export it as a imovie friendly file and just work in imovie HD. Any other suggestions would be great. thanks again for the input.

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Answer 10

mrlucas Author

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Aug 19, 2009 4:44 PM in response to mrlucas

actually, according to the above, its only 4 gigs. and maybe 5.1 will work with my 10.4.11. Hope springs eternal. I don't need any of the extras. I just need something to do some simple edits and watch this frickin video. Is there a quicktime plug in so I can at least watch it?

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